Why do certain Christians get ashes rubbed on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday?

Question

I was just wondering about the background on that. I am kind of new to being a Lutheran. I used to be Baptist and they don't do anything like that.

Answer 1

the one who practice/observe that tradition is not a Christian.
The catholic is the one who practicing that kind of stuff

Answer 2

Ash Wednesday liturgies are some of the best attended in the entire year.
Ashes are an ancient symbol of repentance (sackcloth and ashes). They also remind us of our mortality ("remember that you are dust") and thus of the day when we will stand before God and be judged. This can be linked easily to the death and resurrection motif of Baptism. To prepare well for the day we die, we must die now to sin and rise to new life in Christ. Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent indicates our recognition of the need for deeper conversion of our lives during this season of renewal.

Answer 3

the former day...this is unusual through fact ash Wednesday replaced into this previous Wednesday no longer the former day. anyhow all it fairly is, is whilst the hands from final years palm Sunday are burned and the priest will smear the ashes on our brow in the kind of a bypass symbolizing us commencing over...or becoming from the ashes. this is kinda like a sparkling initiating and we strive to do some thing helpful for lent as a devotion to Christ. it is likewise the 1st day of lent the place we remember Jesus strolling via the barren area for 40 days/nights. i'm catholic and went to catholic faculties all my existence so I incredibly have had to flow via a lot of ash Wednesdays so with a bit of luck this helps and my time wasn't wasted too a lot there.

Answer 4

Misty is correct. And yes, Lutherans do this practice as well. But the first answerer is incorrect. The imputation of ashes on the forehead is not a means of grace.

Answer 5

The ashes, which traditionally are made from the burning of the previous years Palm leaves from Palm Sunday are marked in the form of the cross on the forehead as a symbol of our human mortality and Christ's purchase of us on the cross.
It is a reminder of our need for Him.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" as another answerer wrote, is definitely intrinsic in the ritual.

Answer 6

For the beginning of Lent. I thought only catholics do that, guess I'm wrong. I grew up in the Lutheran/Protestant church of Germany and we never practised this. However, the bible does not require us do indulge in so many rituals that we may forget about God. There are many verses referring to this. That's why I chose a church who studies only the bible.

Answer 7

Ash Wednesday is the start of the penitential season of Lent, and ashes are a sign of penance:

"Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." -- Matthew 11:20-21

Answer 8

It is to remind us of our mortality: "Remember, from dust you came and to dust you will return."

And to remind us to do penance: Sack cloth and ashes

It begins the Holy season of Lent on a note of solemnity as we head into the desert with Christ. Fasting and sacrifice, we wait for his Resurrection. It's really a very beautiful time to pray and hope.

Answer 9

+ Ashes in the Bible +

"O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes." (Jeremiah 6:26)

"I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes." (Daniel 9:3)

"When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes." (Jonah 3:6)

"And all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord." (Judith 4:11; see also 4:15 and 9:1)

"That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes." (1 Maccabees 3:47; see also 4:39)

Jesus refers to the use of sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes." (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13)

+ Ash Wednesday +

As the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday calls us to the conversion journey that marks the season.

As those preparing to join the Church enter the final stage of their preparation for the Easter sacraments, we are all called to walk with them so that we will be prepared to renew our baptismal promises when Easter arrives.

When we receive ashes on our foreheads, we remember:
+ Who we are
+ That we are creatures of the earth
. "Remember that you are dust"
+ That we are mortal beings
. "and to dust you will return"
+ That we are baptized
+ That we are people on a journey of conversion
. "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel"
+ That we are members of the body of Christ
+ That smudge on our foreheads will proclaim that identity to others, too

With love in Christ.

Answer 10

I wonder if they're the ashes of all the weed the priests are smoking?